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strangling

strangling

5 8.6
To press someone's throat so they cannot breathe
  • noun
  • /ˈstræŋɡlɪŋ/
  • NSFW
translation icon : estrangulación
  • Bed partners have suffered various bruises and lacerations from punches, kicks, and strangling holds.

Murder, strangling your mum to death and sexually abusing a child?

Examples

  • Richmond P.D. called in VICAP after the second strangling.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Between 2006 and 2015, more than 500 law enforcement officers were shot to death, which is more than the number of law enforcement deaths caused by automobile crashes, beatings, stabbings, strangling, and terrorist attacks combined over the same period.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Brenda was the first strangling, Patty the second, Cecile the third.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • "I'm sure you're aware of the public distress over these recent stranglings," he said to me.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • In one telling scene, the reenactment of a strangling is interrupted when the gangsters realize it's time for evening prayers.

    Blog text (31)
  • "We have four sorts of deaths for malefactors, Ruth: stoning, burning, strangling, and slaying with the sword.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • When he was sentenced to life in prison on charges unrelated to the stranglings, his cellmates—his peers—took care of him.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The police are investigating the strangling of a prominent journalist in the city.

  • Witnesses reported hearing a struggle before the strangling occurred in the dark alley.

  • The documentary examined the chilling details surrounding a series of stranglings in the 1980s.

Synonyms

strangulation
vsstrangling
  • Offensive
38 7.9

Squeezing someone's neck so they cannot breathe

emphasizes killing or harm from neck compression rather than only stopping breath
throttling
vsstrangling
  • Offensive
1 8.8

Squeezing another person's neck to stop them breathing

focuses on causing death or injury rather than just restricting airflow
jugulation
vsstrangling
  • Offensive
9.9

Killing a living thing by cutting the throat or strangling

limits to killing or injuring by compressing the throat not by cutting

Antonyms

633 1.0

Save someone or something from danger

How Blocked

asphyxiation
  • Specialized
25 9.6
strangling
  • NSFW
5 8.6
choking
5 3.2

Surface Forms

strangling singular
stranglings plural

Morphology

strangling = strangle (transparent) = strangle + ing

Standard gerund/nominalization from the verb 'strangle' meaning 'the act of strangling'; the noun meaning is directly derived and obvious to learners.

Etymology

Strangling comes from old words that mean 'tight' or 'to choke'. Think of the English word string, which is about pulling tight. So strangling means squeezing someone's throat until they cannot breathe.